Our 4-day adventure kicks off with a peaceful and underappreciated gem of a cross-country ride: Gibraltar Trail. After a pretty, 20-minute drive from the town of Republic, we will immediately immerse ourselves in quiet pine forests, rolling hillsides, miles of flowing ridgelines, and miles of flowy backcountry trail.

The Gibraltar Trail is a perfect warm up for the rest of our trip - plenty of climbing but never overly punchy, primitive in spots, extremely rewarding with near-constant sweeping views of the surrounding highlands. The riding, while not overly technical, remains engaging and full of meditative pedaling and flow.
As we finish up our first ride of the trip, the crew’s spirits will no doubt be high and prepared to step up the technical level for the remaining three days of shredding.

Mileage: 11.8 miles
Elevation: +/- 2,500ft

The second day will deliver us one of the crown jewels of the Kettle Crest region: Taylor Ridge. This day will involve a healthy share of climbing, so we’ll start the day with a hearty breakfast at camp or in town, and we’ll pack a filling lunch to eat along the way. For this ride we’ll be executing a partial shuttle, so our uphill efforts will pay off doubly on the descent.

Upper Taylor Ridge is classic high-country riding: sub-alpine evergreens, rugged backcountry and singletrack with sweeping views of B.C. and Idaho. A large swath of the forest we will pass through today was burnt in a wildfire years ago, which means we will be treated to more extensive spring wildflowers as well as near-constant views.

We’ll climb due south on the KCT for a few miles until we turn onto the beginning of the Taylor connector and climb east. When we hit around 5 miles since leaving the trailhead, we’ll begin trending downhill for another 5 miles, where we’ll reach the beginning of the highlight of the day: Lower Taylor Ridge.

Lower Taylor is the most dramatic descent of our trip, dropping more than 3,000’ over 6 miles of primarily fast and smooth singletrack, climbing only 300’ over the same distance. Fast and flowy, with small sections of mild tech to keep us on our toes, this will be a ride to remember!

After a cold drink at the van, we’ll have the potential to shuttle back to the top of Lower Taylor for another lap, depending on the timing of our day.

Mileage: 18.6
Elevation: + 2,699ft, - 5,362ft

On our third day we’ll spend the most amount of time on the Kettle Crest proper of any day of the tour. However, this isn’t the only highlight of Day 3, which features some of the funnest riding of the trip.

Similar to Day 2, we’ll incorporate a mix of pedaling and shuttling, beginning our ride at Sherman Pass at an altitude of around 5,400’. The climbing, totaling around 2,000’ over the duration of the day’s ride, is not very sustained. After a 600’ climb from the Sherman Pass trailhead, we’ll have the option to hike-a-bike up a very steep trail to a lookout cabin atop Columbia Mountain, or continue on to a rolling section of the KCT.

After another 2 miles on the regular route, we will have our first descent of the day, which features fast speeds interspersed with some moderate tech. At the bottom of this descent we’ll switch out our party pants for climbing ones, and climb the final 600’, the top of which lies our mission of the day: Jungle Hill.

Jungle Hill is a 3 mile, 2,300’ descent with minimal climbing, fast speeds, beautiful views of picturesque highland wilderness, aspen groves, and hoots and hollers for days! Don’t open your mouth too wide, though, as Jungle Hill is active grazing land and we’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for “trail obstacles”.

Upon finishing Jungle Hill’s blissful descent and a refreshing beverage, we’ll have the option to shuttle up for a bonus descent on Sherman Pass Trail if our legs and timing allow.

Mileage: 14 miles
Elevation: +2,000 or 2,600, -3,300 or 4,800

The last ride of our trip will be a great send-off, featuring a local favorite trail Midnight Ridge. We’ll try not to smell the barn just yet (despite the area’s popularity with horse enthusiasts), as today’s climb is not for the faint of legs. The total climbing sits at a manageable 2,300’, but 2 miles in the climbing grade is fairly unrelenting for the next 3.5 miles and 2,000’. A major silver lining is the stunning views we will be continually confronted with, culminating in a final majestic view to the west before we drop into the bliss that is Midnight Ridge.

Midnight Ridge is similar to some of the ripping downhills we’ve encountered so far in the trip, but what make it especially unique are the huge Ponderosa stands on the lower half, the lush meadows underneath them, intersected by a brown ribbon of smooth singletrack.

Undoubtedly tired and satisfied, we’ll say goodbye to our Kettle Crest adventure, with a new appreciation for Washington’s amazing variety of riding regions and remote singletrack.

Mileage: 11mi
Elevation: +/- 2,500 ft